Laughing Place Lotion: Carsland Reaches Milestone with Topping Out Ceremony (Laughing Place Lotion) - LaughingPlace.com: Disney World, Disneyland and More

LP Lotion: Carsland Reaches Milestone with Topping Out Ceremony
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Posted November 1, 2010

Friday, October 29 saw a milestone achieved in the Carsland expansion of Disney California Adventure. The highest point of the massive steel structure that encloses the new themed land was put in place in a traditional ceremony, attended by workers, engineers, designers, and managers. An evergreen tree, said to date back to Viking ceremonies, was joined by an American flag on the highest piece of steel. More steel has yet to be added, and all will eventually be sculpted into the rock walls, canyons, and hills of the Cadillac Range and Ornament Valley.

Joining the ceremony were Disney California Adventure President Mary Niven, Vice President of Project Management for Walt Disney Imagineering Jim Kearns, and Executive Producer and Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering Kathy Mangum. Niven spoke of the day in respect of its relation to the continued expansion of the California Adventure Park. Kearns and Mangum gave specific details about the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2012. Among the highlights:

  • The Cadillac Range is a one-of-a-kind structure with 4,000 tons of steel spread over 280,000 square feet, approximately 125 feet high, and with virtually no 90 degree angles.
  • Over 28,000 hours were spent by WDI designers on the structural steel system and Radiator Springs Racers show building, housed within the structure.
  • Steel installation began in March of this year.
  • The six “peaks” of the Cadillac Range represent the 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962 model year tailfins. The highest peak is the 1959, also known as the Pinnacle.
  • The Cadillac Range at Carsland is the largest rockwork construction in any domestic Disney theme park, surpassing the Matterhorn, both Splash Mountains, and Expedition Everest.
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Workers gather to witness Topping Out ceremony
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Highest piece of steel is painted white and adorned with signatures
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Signatures include ironworkers, steel design engineer, and construction management
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